NTP 4.2.2p4 loopstats - NTP

This is a discussion on NTP 4.2.2p4 loopstats - NTP ; Steve - I thank you for your time in replying. Hopefully I can get this
operational.
The ntp.conf file I appended was installed by the Fedora Core 5
installation except for the NIST servers which were added by the system
...

Re: Not able to connect

Steve - I thank you for your time in replying. Hopefully I can get this
operational.

The ntp.conf file I appended was installed by the Fedora Core 5
installation except for the NIST servers which were added by the system
date/time s/w under Fedora Core 5. I have refrained from editing the
file, since I know nothing about it. I will edit it as per your comments.

I got the port 13 from the NIST site ( excerpt from their site):
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The port number on your system is arbitrary, and is usually chosen at
random by your system each time the client program prepares to make a
request for the time. Therefore, it is likely to vary from one request
to another. However, the NIST time servers will only listen for and
respond to requests addressed to a few specific port numbers and
protocols. These combinations are:

* udp port 123, which is used by the network time protocol and the
simple network time protocol. The NIST client software can be configured
to use this port, but does not use it by default.

* tcp port 13, which is used by the NIST client software by default
and by other programs that use the “daytime” protocol.

* tcp port 37 and udp port 37, which are used by DATE, RDATE, SDATE
and by other programs that use the “time” protocol.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

following the above, I assumed that TCP port 13 would be the port to
use. I will correct that. Thanks.

The NIST site indicated that users (all?) were encouraged to use their
servers to synch the computer clocks. Is that wrong? They even give away
s/w to do the synching. I will edit them out until I learn otherwise.

> I see nothing in here that would prevent ntpd from working once you have
> the correct port open.

which doesn't show a default with an asterisk which somebody said would
indicate the system used by ntpd to set the time automatically and keep
it synched. Is this true? How can I tell if ntpd is working and keeping
the clock synched?

Done - thanks
>
> These pool server hostnames can resolve to serves located anywhere in
> the world. You may wish to restrict the pool to your geographic area.
> Please see http://ntp.isc.org/pool for more information.
>
>> fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10

>
>> server time
>> restrict time mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap noquery
>> server time
>> restrict time mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap noquery
>
> What's the point of the previous 4 lines? Do you have access to an NTP
> server named 'time.your.domain' ?

Commented out above - those lines came with the file - don't know who
put them in the file shipped with FC 5.
>
>> server time-a.nist.gov
>> restrict time-a.nist.gov mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap noquery
>> server time-b.nist.gov
>> restrict time-b.nist.gov mask 255.255.255.255 nomodify notrap noquery
>
> These are Stratum-1 servers. Please check the the Rules of Engagement
> (http://ntp.isc.org/rules) and make sure that you meet the criteria for
> the direct use of Stratum-1 time servers. Unless you are supporting a
> large number of client systems you should be using Stratum-2 servers
> (http://ntp.isc.org/s2) and/or the NTP Pool (http://ntp.isc.org/pool).

Will comment them out. As I said above they were added by the system s/w
when I added NIST to the servers following the NIST web site
encouragement to do so.

>
> The comment about redundant restrictions also applies here.
>

Still not sure that ntpd is working and keeping the clock synched. As I
asked above - how do I tell????

Thanks for your advice - it is much appreciated.

Terry

--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++
================================================== ====
************************************************** ****
If you are always rushing towards the future,
Then you never have any past.

You didn't wait nearly long enough between starting ntpd and running
ntpq -p!! The banner shows that each server has responded only once.
The poll interval seems rather high to say the least. Polling normally
starts at 64 second intervals unless you tamper with the defaults for
MINPOLL and MAXPOLL. Such tampering is NOT a good idea!!!

Adding "iburst" to each of your server statements in ntp.conf should
give you a much quicker startup. It causes the first eight request
packets to be sent at two second intervals and gets the information
necessary to start synchronizing your clock in about sixteen seconds
instead of almost six minutes.

When the number in the "reach" column reaches 377 you know that the
server has responded to the last eight requests; it's an eight bit shift
register and the display is in octal. Each response from a server
shifts a one bit in from the right hand side. When a server fails to
respond a zero is shifted in.

So make the necessary changes to ntp.conf and restart ntpd. Wait four
or five minutes and say "ntpq -p". You should then get a banner that
shows 377 for all the servers, and one of them should be marked with an
asterisk in column one. The asterisk indicates "selected as the
synchronization source". From zero to three others may be marked with a
plus sign. The plus sign indicates the server is a member of the
"selection set" and is thus a candidate for selection as the
synchronization source. Minus signs indicate rejected servers and an
"X" indicates that the server is considered "insane"!